Attendance Officer

Newstead Wood School is a high-achieving grammar school for girls with a mixed Sixth Form. We are seeking to appoint an experienced, organised and enthusiastic Attendance Officer to support the students and the school.

Main responsibilities will include: 

• Work with the Senior Leader for Attendance to champion a culture of attendance with staff in the school 
• Call, email and meet parents/carers about student absences 
• Advise the safeguarding and pastoral teams about any students of concern, for example whose attendance is falling 
• Identify strategies to support priority students to attend school every day 
• Act swiftly to intervene when attendance is not improving, for example by conducting home visits 
• Work with parents/carers to implement re-integration plans for persistently absent students 
• Produce attendance reports and analyse data for trends and priorities 
• Advise school colleagues on current laws, policies, and standards regarding attendance and safeguarding 
• Be responsible for maintaining meticulous records, including: class registers, phone and meeting logs, and referrals 
• Demonstrate the importance of inclusion, equality and diversity when working with the school community

The successful candidate will possess excellent communication, administration and interpersonal skills with a flexible and adaptable approach to meet the ever-changing needs of both students and the School. They will be able to work on their own initiative and as part of the wider Administration team. A good working knowledge of Microsoft Office 365, Word and Excel is essential; experience of using Arbor (our MIS) and of working within a similar role is highly desirable. You need to have the ability to work well under pressure and to meet deadlines; to demonstrate a strong attention to detail, whilst maintaining a high level of confidentiality at all times.   

About Us

Newstead Wood School is a highly selective girls’ state secondary school, with a co-educational Sixth Form. The school is heavily over-subscribed. Students here achieve the highest academic standards whilst also benefitting from exceptional pastoral care. Our school badge, with its symbol of the acorn and the motto Fortitudine Crescamus, meaning ‘may we grow in strength’, symbolises the idea of growth, both for the school and for the individual.

We are a diverse and inclusive school with a wide catchment area. We pride ourselves on an excellent range of extracurricular opportunities to complement our academic courses. The vast majority of our students progress to Russell Group Universities at the end of our Sixth Form. We are exceptionally proud of our students. They are bright and happy young people who enjoy being at school, each bringing unique talents to our community. Newstead students have freedom and security to be themselves, and many opportunities to follow their interests and aspirations. We know them as individuals and support them to grow as thinking young people and active citizens, ready to take positions of responsibility and leadership on leaving school.

Our lessons move at a fast pace and students are routinely challenged in their thinking. Sporting successes are notable at Newstead - on a global level! 

Newstead Wood is situated in Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley and there are excellent rail links to both London Bridge and Victoria Stations.

Part of United Learning

Newstead Wood School is part of United Learning, a large, and growing, group of schools aiming to offer a life changing education to children and young people across England.

Our schools work as a team and achieve more by sharing than any single school could. Our subject specialists, our Group-wide intranet, our own curriculum and our online learning portal all help us share knowledge and resource, helping to simplify work processes and manage workloads for an improved work-life balance.

As a Group, we can reward our staff better: with good career opportunities, better pay, benefits, and ultimately, the satisfaction of helping children to succeed. We invest in our staff wellbeing. Our academies each have at least eight INSET days per year (with three of those solely dedicated to planning), and an ongoing group-wide wellbeing programme. It's an ethos we call ‘the best in everyone’.

We are working hard to become a more diverse organisation – which is key to our commitment to bringing out the best in everyone. We welcome applications from everyone committed to this ethos and would particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates, who are currently under-represented in the Group as a whole. 

We always appoint on merit. We are open to discussing flexible working options.

Further information about our group can be found here.

Applicants are encouraged to apply promptly, as we may call candidates for interview at any time and close the advert early.

The closing date for applications is midday on Friday 29th November 2024.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please complete the on-line application. Further details of the position can be found by emailing: recruitment@newsteadwood.co.uk

Newstead Wood School is an equal opportunities employer and requires enhanced DBS clearance as part of its commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships. We particularly welcome applications from BAME candidates as they are currently under-represented at our school. We recognise the hole that is left in our young people's education without the valuable contribution that a diverse range of colleagues make. We value the unique talents, perspectives and experiences that diverse colleagues will bring to our vibrant school.